


Override

by h_avok



Category: Borderlands, Tales from the Borderlands - Fandom
Genre: Canon Divergence, Mmmmm, Other, gayperion eventualy, handsome rhys au pretty much? >:), more stuff to be added as i go on
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-31
Updated: 2016-02-05
Packaged: 2018-05-17 08:31:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,936
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5861698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/h_avok/pseuds/h_avok
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU where you never get really get rid of Jacks AI and Rhys becomes more and more like him every day without noticing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: We're not so different, you and I**

  
"Rhys, please"

Jack was never known to be much of a beggar in the past, begging was for weenies, really. But what else can you really do when someone has control over your life and your fate like that.

Rhys felt almost no remorse in hurting Jack. Almost. But the feeling of guilt creeps at the back of his mind like a drop of food coloring in a bowl of water. With his arm gone, Jack could no longer try and strangle Rhys by taking it over.

Jack just wanted a body. He wanted a vessel. A reason to live. Though he didnt deserve it, Rhys thought briefly about giving Jack what he wanted.

Rhys reaches down to the ground to a sharded piece of glass that assumedly came from the debris of Helios.

He raises the hand to his ECHO eye implant and winced at the thought of what he was about to do.

Jacks eyes widened and he began to wail as if he was in pain "Rhys, Rhys...You can't do this. I can't die you don't know what it's like! You don't know what its like to die theres...theres nothing!" he pleaded.

A look crosses Jack's face, as if something had just crossed his mind that he hadnt thought of previously.

"Rhysie," he began, a small sinister smile creeping across his features, "you do know that no matter what you do you cant get rid of me...right?"

Rhys thinks he see through this new information that was obviously a lie. Though, he lowers his arm, just to humor Jack.

The hologram laughed loudly, holding his stomach like that movement was one of the funniest things he had ever witnessed.

"And even if you could get rid of me, why would you want to? We were meant to rule together, cupcake...don't you see?" Jack takes a step towards Rhys, causing him to startle, Rhys raises the glass shard to his eye once more, but lets Jack continue to speak.

"It's fate d-don't you see? I was created so that I would never die! I was created so that even after my death I could find a new hos---heir...to take upon my old responsibility as CEO of Hyperion!" he finishes, and gives Rhys a look like he should already know this or already did.

"Hyperion is gone, Jack, you know it and I know it."

"But also it's your fault."

"True, but also it's yours. You shouldnt have taken over the mainframe like that."

"You should have trusted me! We could have taken over the whole company with just the two of us! You could have helped people who worked -- would have worked -- for you...but what did you do, Rhys?"

"I uh..I ordered a pizza"

"You ordered a pizza! Precisely. How exactly was a pizza supposed to fix any problems?"

"Well, I was pretty hungry so that fixed one problem but..remember that you offered me the pizza in the first place--why are we arguing about pizza anyways? Aren't you supposed to be telling me about how I ruined your chance to rule Hyperion again?"

"That's exactly what you did. Not only that but you ruined your own chance at ruling hyperion with me"

"You lied to me about ever 'ruling' Hyperion in the first place! Even if I had chose to rule alongside you, you still would have tried to turn me into your own personal meat puppet. Am I not wrong?"

Jack makes a face that indicates that Rhys is in fact correct, but he just isnt willing to admit it.

"So, if thats true. Then how is any of this my fault?" Rhys raises an eyebrow and shoots Jack a glare.

"Well.." Jack begins, trying to formulate a lie quickly, "You know what? I got nothin'....I was going to try and kill you no matter wether you wanted me to or not. That was my plan all along. I knew the exosekelton was in my office and since I was stuck in your head I had to find some way to get you there. It was pretty much a dream come god damned true when you stumbled upon the GORTYS project of all things. Now, we would have to go to my office in order to get the last digistruct key and then once you got it, I could switch your brain for mine and kill two birds with one stone. The stone being the digistruct key and the birds being you and the completion of GORTYS." Jack took a long, drawn out exhale and took a moment to give a small chuckle at his simple joke. "But you just couldn't let it happen, could 'ya, Rhysie. You had to be the big friggin' hero and destroy my ship."

Rhys is speechless at this, he simply doesn't respond, taking a new spot in sitting on the floor and not paying Jack any mind whatsoever. He was really starting to feel the blood  
loss from his arm hit him, note to self to not try and stand up for a while. He drops the glass shard and puts his head in his hand.

They sit in silence for a while until Rhys looks up from his spot on the floor with a look of interest on his face.

"Jack..." he states with the littlest bit of a smile in his voice "..how would you like to rule Atlas together?"

 


	2. Chapter 2: No one said this would be easy.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rhys and Jack come up (or try to) with a plan to "rule atlas" but Rhys quickly realises he doesn't have much time left for planning his new rule.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry in advance for the shortness of this one!! I promise chapter 3 that will be uploaded within the next few days, promise, will help explain better why I cut this one off a bit short.

 

"What?" Jack asks, incredulous.

"You heard me. Do you want to rule atlas together?" Rhys stands, a little wobbly, but manages to balance himself.

Jack scoffs, raising his eyebrows at him, "And how'd'you suppose we do that, pumpkin?" the condescending smirk that is permanently plastered  
on his face makes Rhys reluctant to formulate his thoughts into a plan.

Theres a long, drawn out silence, one that seems to last for ages. Rhys is now desperately trying to form his train of thought into one cohesive plan. Its hard, especially now with the increasingly painful throb in his right shoulder, where his metal prosthetic previously resided.

When he looks up, he briefly sees Jack staring at him intently. Though his expression shows no more interest past what he usually shows him.

"Do you have an answer for me, Rhysie?" Jack cocks his head to the side, somewhat like a puppy would.

Rhys opens his mouth to speak, but nothing coherent comes out. Another few beats pass, and he finally speaks "Well, instead of desperately trying to r-reform Hyperion as it was from the ruins of Helios..we just take over Atlas?" He stumbles over his words, his thoughts and ability to function slightly decreasing as he realises how much blood he's lost exactly.  

Jack doesn't respond immediately, nor does he watch Rhys with daggers in his eyes. Instead, he gives a slight nod as a wild grin crosses his features, "Wow, Rhys! I think thats one of the only intelligent ideas you've had since you shoved me inside your brain!" Jack jests, flailing his large hands as he talks.

Rhys scowls , lips upturning into an angry frown. "So is that a yes, then?" his words falter a bit as he feels more and more dizzy as each minute passes.

Jack thinks for a moment, a minute later he smirks and nods.

"Good," Rhys grins, but then grimaces, Jack looks a little concerned for him, only for a moment or so. "I need to...need to get...something done about my a-arm..." he states wearily, breathing suddenly shallow. "Oh god..." mutters Rhys, "h-how much..blood have I lost?"

Suddenly, before either of them expect it, Rhys collapses as dark spots appear at the edges of his vision, Jack says something but it never reaches his ears, by the time Jack could finish his thought, Rhys has taken to the ground and has been pulled into unconsciousness.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope u enjoyed tjis a little bit at least. Theres bigger and better things we're getting eeady for in chapter three and I'm hoping you'll all be here for it. Feedback is appreciated as always!


	3. I would follow you to the ends of the universe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Rhys has slipped into unconciousness from loss of blood and a missing arm, who wll come to hus rescue? Will they make it there in time?

Vaughn had been worried sick ever since he heard that his friends' mission had gone awry. Everything was fine. Was. He didn't even know where Rhys or Sasha or Fiona even were. Helios was destroyed...completely destroyed.

Rhys and his friends could be dead for all he knew and he wasn't there to see them or say goodbye or tell Rhys that--

Now is not the time, Rhys is probably fine.

At least he had hoped. Why, was a different thing entirely, he had already mourned Rhys. There was no point in beating himself up over it more now. They'd gotten out of things before together, how could this be any different?

Well for one, they were always together when bad things happened. Being seperated is a fate worse than death, Vaughn was sure of that.

And yet here he is, searching the site of the Helios crash and the escape pods that had all seemed to crash in about the same place. Considering they launched in all the same places. Except the two escape pods Vaughn wanted to find.

Figures.

He hadn't actually considered checking the actual Helios ruins, it had only been less than a day since the crash so no one was really allowed to enter and poke around. But Vaughn had a gut feeling thats where he'd find Rhys. No matter what condition.

His other escapades into the pod crashes were proved more climactic than he'd expected. It was as if Vaughn himself had brought Hyperion down, at least thats what his former coworkers treated him like.

But of course, ever the humble bastard, he shared the tale of how all credit was due to Rhys, not like he himself really knew, but these guys wanted any explanation, who exactly it was that liberated them.

One response, came from a guy who used to work in HR, and it sent chills down Vaughn's spine.

"Oh..Rhys? He uh...before everything went down I remember that someone was looking for him.." his brows furrow, as if trying to remember who exactly was hunting down Rhys.

Suddenly another accountant --whos name escapes Vaughn for a moment- chimes in "It uh...It was Handsome Jack."

Suddenly everyone in the room has cast their eyes to the guy from accounting. "Thats impossible. He's dead." Vaughn spits angrily.

"No really, it was like..like some kind of AI or something. I think that one guy who worked at Hyperion made it who was like -- obsessed with Jack" Richie -- that was his name - explains.

Suddenly it clicks in Vaughns mind. The ID drive, Rhys' sudden change in attitude, everything leading up to now. "Nakyama." he splutters out. This earns him a nod and some "ohhhh"'s and "yeeeeeeaaaah"'s from the crowd.

Vaughn nods solemnly, leaning forward with his head in his hands, elbows on his knees.

So Rhys wasn't kidding. He really was dealing with Handsome Jack. What if it was never Rhys at all? Millions of worried thoughts flood his mind at once. How could he have just ignored his friend like that? Especially considering how much he l--how much he wanted to help Rhys when anything happened to him.

This was no different, really. Except Vaughn had just brushed Rhys off like that. How could he do that? He was shaking now, trying to keep his composure, standing suddenly and giving a curt goodbye to the group of ex-Hyperion workers.

He walks away, not sure of where he's going.

 

* * *

* * *

 

A few hours later, he finds himself wandering aimlessly through the endless ruins of Helios, pushing away pieces of rubble and metal, he nearly jumps out of his skin when a metal beam behind him falls unexpectedly, he whirls around, thinking someone would come out at him, but theres nothing there.

The farther he went, the closer he could tell he was getting to Jack's office. He sees what used to be a statue of Jack, the head portion of the statue now toppled over onto the ground.

Vaughn walks under the neck part of it, careful not to smack his head off of it.

It's just a few more minutes of walking, it goes on for what seems like years. That is, until he sees him.

  
Rhys. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love cliffhangers and endless suffering.


	4. We've Been Here Before, Havent We?

 

Vaughns not really sure wether this is the best or the worst outcome that he could have imagined throughout the millions of scenarios about what could have happened to his bro.

Before he knows what hes doing, his short legs carry him in long strides to his friend, at the speed of a bullet.

As soon as he saw Rhys, he tried his best to fight back all the tears and emotion that threatened to spill out of him at that moment. Crying wasn't what needed to happen right now.

Right now, what needed to happen was Rhys needed some help.

Vaughn kneels down to examine the extent of Rhys' injuries. He was missing his arm, and the ground was tinted red where he'd been laying.

He notices that in falling unconcious, he had lodged a small piece of glass in his cheek. It was about 2 inches long and hadn't pushed all the way through to his mouth or anything so that was a plus, to say the least.

Vaughn strips the shirt off himself and fashions a makeshift tourniquet for the bleeding stump. It wasnt profusely bleeding or even a steady dribble. It was just the occasional few drips. But it was apparent that he'd lost a lot of blood.

Vaughn, now shirtless, hoists Rhys up on his shoulder, he's taller than Vaughn but far stronger than he is. But still, hes not exactly light as a feather.

He starts through the maze of the ruins, careful not to hit Rhys' limp body off of anything and hurting him further. Eventually, after ducking and dodging what feels like a million different random falling pieces of scrap metal and other things.

When he exits the ruins, he yelps for help from anyone who was helping with the minor and few-and-far-between injuries that ex-hyperion workers fell victim to that day.

Someone, a doctor, Vaughn assumes, grabs a few people around him to come help the two.

Vaughn gives up on standing and falls straight to the ground , careful to break Rhys' fall and tries to make sure he didn't get hurt any more than he was already.

  
Suddenly, he feels the weight of Rhys' body lift off him, Vaughn leaps to his feet and begins to follow the doctors as they examine his friend.

"Is he gonna be okay?" He manages, voice hoarse and cracking. "You can fix him yeah?"

The guy examining Rhys' face and the place where his cybernetic arm should have been turns around, giving Vaughn only a tight lipped smile and a nod.

Oh god.

  
What was happenning to them.

He feels himself struggling to breathe smoothly, only getting a few short, quick gasps as he tries to fight back a sob.

Everything moves a million miles a minute from then on, the doctor telling him Rhys would have to be taken to somewhere they could actually help him, the trip to the hospital, the waiting room. It all went by in a second.

Next thing he knew, he was just sitting in Rhys' room, next to his comatose body. Vaughn's on the left side of the bed, just so he can hold Rhys' hand.

Theres a huge bandage that covers all of his shoulder. It reached all the way around to the edge of his first blue tattoo. Theres also a bandage that covers one part of his face where the glass had been lodged,

Looking at Rhys now, Vaughn starts to feel the weight of what's happening. The silence, save the beep of the monitors keeping him alive, is absolutely driving Vaughn crazy.

Thats when he really starts to cry.

He didn't cry when he found Rhys, not when he thought he was dead, not when he couldnt find his pod, not on their way to the hospital. But now, on his bedside, hoping, praying, begging for Rhys to just wake up and then everything would be fine.

Vaughn puts his head on the bed rail and lets go completely, he sobs and sobs until he passes out, hes still not sure if it was from exhaustion or because of how hard he cried that night. At some point during the night,  
someone places a blanket over his shoulders.

 

* * *

 

When Vaughn finally wakes up, half forgetting the events of the night previous, drowsily runs a hand through his hair and straightens up, feeling the uncomfortable ache from the position he slept.

He doesn't know what to do. He definitely doesn't want to leave, unless he absolutely has to. He decides to wait for more news from the doctor and then he'll move from there.

There's not much to ask when the doctor comes back, they ask what could have caused this, if Rhys has had any other medical complications over his life. To which Vaughn truthfully answered every question, anything to help Rhys.

Then they asked him something he wasn't expecting. For some reason this had never crossed his mind.

"What about his arm? We were thinking about giving him a new one and we ask that you tell us what you'd want us to do for him. If you have anything ideas at all as to what we can do for him, please tell us."

The words rush at Vaughn, almost too fast for him to catch them, he thinks for a moment or two and then begins to speak.

"I have the perfect idea."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope you liked this! much more to come and we're FINALLY getting to the real meat of this story and im so happy about it

**Author's Note:**

> hhh i hope everyone likes this!! its for my best friend/depended and this is gonna be a LOOOOOONG fic so strap urselves in we're going on a bumpy ride.


End file.
